Katherine's Boys
by coattails
Summary: She had always liked the challenges. Oneshot. Katherine-centric, canon compliant. Implied pairings.


A/N: Well, it's been years since I discovered fanfiction, so I thought I'd try my hand at writing something. And I was watching the Masquerade episode and staring at *ahemIanSomerhalderahem* the incredible plotline and beautiful acting, and this happened.

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I do not own Damon Salvatore or The Vampire Diaries.

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_Katherine's Boys_

The sight of Stefan Salvatore coercing his brother into drinking human blood was one Katherine never expected to see. She'd always assumed Damon would be cruel, with the same cutting nature he'd had as a human. Stefan, she'd thought, would be the quiet, thoughtful one.

So much for that.

Katherine watched with interested horror as Stefan grew into something that was not Stefan, something that very much resembled_ him_. She began to possess a sense of regret as she observed from the shadows.

Of course, then darling Alexia had to show up (arguably Stefan's fault – well, arguably it was all Stefan's fault) and Katherine would never admit to anyone that Lexi was probably the only vampire in the world who could heal him.

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Damon wasn't as interesting, Katherine concluded between running from _him_ and checking up on Stefan. Damon was a generic vampire. He roamed around with awe and interest in his eyes, and a powerful, arrogant smirk on his face. He loved the fact that the world was his and his alone to explore and conquer and change.

Occasionally he'd think of Katherine. The pain would come over his face for a second if he was in public, and in private he'd gouge holes in the walls and shatter windows and smear blood across the rooms like they were his own canvas (usually they weren't even in his own house).

Katherine relished this.

It was proof that she did still have the aura that his brother had described rather vaguely all those years ago (she never did admit this to Damon).

* * *

Going along with the pattern of things Katherine would never admit, before Mystic Falls had ever been a town, she'd toyed with the idea of seriously using compulsion on a man, for more than a few hours, instead of having him for one night and then drinking him dry (ah, the sweet taste of the French).

But she'd always thought it a bit patronizing to the vampire doing the compelling. It was an insult to her persuasive capabilities.

In truth, when Stefan seemed to worship propriety more than any woman in his life, and hadn't been swayed by her coy comments and little glances, Katherine had been internally shocked.

And she'd _wanted_ him.

He was a distraction, a beauty in the town (which she'd been drawn back to rather foolishly, when she looked back on it).

Finally, being a lady of impatience, Katherine had compelled him, and suddenly she was on top of the world.

She could even see a select few of the reasons for _his_ many complexities.

* * *

Damon was different, if only because he'd boosted Katherine's ego. She'd never really loved him, but having him worship the ground her skirts trailed upon was entertaining.

Not to mention the hilarious town gossip.

But Damon had an interestingly aloof personality, and she'd liked that. His looks didn't hurt, either. She hadn't really ever meant for them both to turn so suddenly, but then the Council caught on and Giuseppe, smart, cool-headed man that he was, shot them.

Before they died, though, Katherine had flirted with the idea of having two gorgeous young vampires at her beck and call. Of course, keeping Stefan would have been a challenge. Keeping Damon would have been easy.

That's why she didn't really watch Damon all that much, save for the destructive moments.

Katherine had always liked the challenges.

(George Lockwood never really stood a chance.)

* * *

When she first found out about Elena, Katherine breathed a sigh of relief she'd been saving for centuries. If _he_ caught up with her, she'd hide behind the distinctly human scent of Elena's blood and _he'd_ be too occupied to care about Katherine.

She'd be able to stop running.

And then she saw the way Stefan (and five seconds later, Damon) looked at the girl.

Katherine recognized the expression.

It was how they had looked at her. How Damon had looked briefly at Sage, that cow, and how Stefan had looked at his sister, sure. But she wrote those off (Stefan being a bloodthirsty animal at the time and Damon being, well, Damon) and she knew exactly how to think of the look.

It was Katherine's look.

She could cover Stefan's walls with the names of the men who'd stared at Katherine like that, the ones with desire in their eyes and blood in their veins. Even _his_ brother had stared. Katherine hadn't missed it.

Maybe if he wasn't after her, she would have ended up with one of them.

(As much as Katherine would deny it upon confrontation, she'd had her moments where she'd wish for love that wouldn't be dashed by him and his murderous predatory nature.)

When Katherine saw the look, all the long-awaited relief drained from her mind, as did thoughts of him and his family and she knew she had to ruin Elena Gilbert, because _those boys_ were _hers_.

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A/N: If you review, you get a wink and a smile from the one and only Damon Salvatore himself. Right, Damon?

*crickets chirp*

Pfft.


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